Along the Mississippi River
 |
| route Monday the 9th to Hampton |
 |
| route Tuesday the 10th to Nauvoo |
 |
| Wednesday the 11th to Granite City |
 |
| route Thursday the 12th to Benton |
 |
| route Saturday the 14th to Cairo and beyond |
The campgrounds:
 |
| looking toward Lock & Dam #14 |
* COE/Fisherman's Corner/Hampton: When the US Corps of Engineers puts its mind to building something, it does a bang-up job. If this campground had wifi or if I could have gotten a hotspot signal, I'd have been willing to spend the rest of the month here. It's got about 50 campsites, all of which are paved and many of which are on the Mississippi River, a modern bathhouse, and charges $20/night of which I paid half because they offered a federal Senior Pass 50% discount. It's just a few miles from the Quad Cities, where I started the month, so there were plenty of services and sights handy. But without wifi, I just couldn't see staying.
The lilypads in the foreground of that photo are on long stems and wave constantly with the river current and the breeze. Seen in the dim dawn light when I was walking the dogs, they're positively eerie.
* Camp Nauvoo/Nauvoo: A small, somewhat bizarre campground operated by the City of Nauvoo. No wifi and no hotspot signal, bathrooms that clearly dated back to the 1950s, and it was nearly empty. That usually is a cause for rejoicing for me, but at this place it gave me the creeps. $35/night for full hookups, no shade, and I was delighted to get out of there in the morning. I'd have done much better to stay at the Nauvoo State Park just down the hill, but I thought this place had wifi. Wrong.
* Granite City/East St. Louis KOA/Granite City: Their online campground map didn't show anything about the campsites other than their location, and the guy on the phone said they were nearly full and he could only get me sort of close to the entrance. That made me nervous about how I'd walk the dogs if I had to pass a bunch of campsites, so I decided to stay only one night. I actually couldn't believe it was full on a Wednesday evening - a campground's lightest night in any season, but he was telling the truth. Still, it was a better location than I'd expected, though the whole campground was nothing but gravel and dust. Amazing the variety you can find in a chain business.
* Benton KOA/Benton: This campground was split in half by a public, well-trafficked road, which still seems odd to me. Half of it is hilly and damp and very shady (maybe the original part), while the half I stayed in is on a hill around a small pond and very open. Unlike the campground map diagram, the site I picked was not next to a KOA Kabin (makes me gag) but instead was so immediately next to the house of a staff member that my electrical connection was on the side of the house. Still, I was getting really tired of all this moving around and desperately needed some quality wifi time, so I stayed here an extra night.
* Ferne Clyffe State Park/Goreville: I'd expected to stay at either of a couple of campgrounds near Cairo (pronounced KAY-roh, like the syrup), but both turned out to be disasters. Horseshoe Lake State Fish and Wildlife Area, about 10 miles north of town, looked good online, but I found rutty dirt roads, only 2 campers (one looked abandoned), and no sign of authority. Even with the 2 dogs for protection, I got a bad feeling just by driving around there and knew I'd never be comfortable during the night. Then there used to be a small campground at Fort Defiance in the center of town, and I couldn't tell online if it was still there. It wasn't. By the time I'd been to both places, even though it was getting late I decided it was worth driving another 25 miles to get to a sure thing. The park ranger assured me on the phone that there were plenty of spaces left for me, which sounded better than the alternatives I'd found. Ferne Clyffe is very rural - several miles outside the small town of Goreville - and very shady, probably good habitat for the ferns. It's known for several waterfalls that I didn't bother to go see, though I think the trail to one of them is fairly short; maybe another visit. But of course no wifi, so I had to figure out where I was going using only the AAA map, which is turning out to be more useful than the official Illinois State Map.
Comments from the drive
About a month ago, my wonderful sister-in-law Anna sent me an 11"x14" 300-piece jigsaw puzzle that turned out to be the perfect excuse to waste time. It was so addictive I spent a full half a day on it and had a hard time stopping, so I've allowed myself only sporadic work on it every since. It fits perfectly into an Ikea tray I brought, so I could stow it while I drove without having to take it apart. You can now see for yourselves (at right).
I started by driving 12 miles north from Galena to East Dubuque to see where Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois meet along the Mississippi River. I've already seen it from the Wisconsin side, when I drove the Great River road up there, so I thought I should start the Illinois section where the other left off.
 |
| looking north, you can see all 3 states in 1 photo |
I was at a boat ramp that looked easy to find online but was really hard in real life - across multiple raised railroad tracks (in frequent use by trains) and down an unmarked dirt road by a bridge trestle, but there it was.
Even though I'm now in Illinois, I'm still seeing supper clubs so I finally looked them up. Turns out they're a throwback to the 1930s and began in California by the same man who created Lawry's Seasoned Salt. www.travelwisconsin.com/supper-clubs They're now considered iconic in Wisconsin, and I can see the fondness has spilled across the southern border to Illinois. I saw them in the Chicago area and now I see one in East Dubuque.
If you look at those route maps, you can see that the official Great River Road route does indeed follow the Mississippi closely for part of the way, but for quite a bit of it the river is miles away from the road, quite unlike Wisconsin where it hugs the river for most of the way. But I know I was on the route because I got directions from the Illinois website and I could see the official road signs all along the way.
Plus the state's River Road guidebook was nearly useless for my kind of traveling. Instead of being organized based on the route itself, the guide was organized around single-issue tourism, such as wineries or hiking trails or fall festivals or boat launches or museums. To find out what I might be able to see in any particular town, I had to flip through the book and hope I'd notice the town's name. There wasn't even an index that would let me look up the listing for a specific town. So I'm certain I missed a lot of things I'd have wanted to see and I can't for the life of me understand why Illinois didn't do a better job for the many many travelers who, like me, are just driving down the road to see what's there.
I went through the town of Hanover, that claims it's The Mallard Capital of the World. Some claim. Hanover, according to an official highway sign "is in a enterprise zone." (Do people not learn English grammar in school any more?) Hanover was getting ready to celebrate their Mallard Fest on September 15th.
 |
| a view of the river |
All along the whole river route, whether I could see the river or not, the road ran through croplands and hills, with scattered houses and occasional small towns and villages.
Along much of the Great River Road, I couldn't get an NPR station from Illinois; instead I picked them up from Iowa and then from Missouri. The Davenport (IA) station was heavily farm-focused and reported the prices for soybean seeds and played a lot of polka music, which I enjoyed.
I passed a sign outside a business that said: "America chose God. Trump says he is the Chosen One." I guess I understand signs like this outside people's houses, but outside a business? Was America always this political and I just didn't notice?
I heard on the radio that less than 1% of gray squirrels and fox squirrels in North America have black fur. And yet I saw still another black squirrel at the Corps of Engineers campground. I've been seeing a lot of them on this trip, and it sure seems like it's more than 1% of all the squirrels I've seen. Fortunately, Dexter has almost completely lost interest in squirrels now that he's discovered chipmunks. And he seems to have an unerring nose for the bolt holes they dig in the ground. Sometimes when we're walking I'll see him stick his nose way into a hole in the ground or at the base of trees and realize he's found the lair of another chipmunk. We don't see the actual critters very often, though, which apparently is a good thing.
In Moline, I stopped off at the John Deere Pavilion to learn something about this iconic company, and I'll do a separate posting about that.
 |
| Rock River |
The Mississippi runs between Davenport (IA) and Moline and Rock Island in Illinois. The Rock River flows into the Mississippi there, and it's quite a large river, making me realize yet again just how much water is actually getting carried along by that river. The Rock River starts in east-central Wisconsin so has plenty of time to gather water as it flows along.
Just as I was leaving the urban area, the road began to run right along the Mississippi and I got a beautiful, unobstructed view of the river, but very sadly there was no place at all for me to stop and take a photo.
I saw Iowa license plates all over - almost as many as Illinois plates. Which, by the way, look like these.
 |
| the newer version |
I couldn't find any place that would tell me when these became official, but I've only started seeing the new ones in the last year or two. Illinois, by the way, charges a hefty $101/year for passenger vehicle registration, and an additional $150 for first time registration. I'm not sure the money's going into their roads, though.
 |
| possible cranes |
The photo on the right is my best attempt to see what kind of birds were in this flock. What I saw from the ground was only marginally clearer than this photo, but it looked like they were trailing long legs, and when they wheeled around they seemed to be white (though that could have just been reflection from the sun). So I'm guessing a flock of cranes - but that's a pretty good sized flock.
I saw bridges across the river all along the length of it. In the small town of Nauvoo (pop. 1,149), there are no grocery stores, with the dubious exception of a Dollar General - residents have to go to Iowa for food.
Nauvoo
Nauvoo is an unusual town. It was first settled by whites in 1827 and named Venus. A few years later it was renamed Commerce when it was in contention to be named county seat. (It lost.)
In 1839, Mormons fleeing persecution in Missouri bought the town and renamed it Nauvoo, from Isaiah 52:7.
By 1844, the town's population was 12,000, but also in 1844, Joseph Smith and his brother were murdered by anti-Mormons. Brigham Young assumed the leadership of the group and decided they'd have to leave the United States if they wanted to escape persecution - and this is how they ended up in Utah.
By 1844, the town's population was 12,000, but also in 1844, Joseph Smith and his brother were murdered by anti-Mormons. Brigham Young assumed the leadership of the group and decided they'd have to leave the United States if they wanted to escape persecution - and this is how they ended up in Utah.
In 1849, a group known as Icarians moved in to establish a utopian socialist commune. They had up to 500 in their group until their leader's death in 1856. The town was predominately Catholic in the first half of the 1900s and, today, is largely Methodist.
Despite these shifting religious fortunes, this Mormon temple (shown above) is an example of their continuing influence here. This temple, built high on a hill in 1999, is a replica of the original one, destroyed by arson in 1849. That front faces the Mississippi River and can be seen for miles along the river. Visitors are allowed inside only if they're Mormons. Several of the town's original buildings - Joseph Smith's home, for instance, have been restored and the area is now a center for Mormon tourism.
Back on the road
As I'm driving south, I'm starting to see more plants I think of as southern. This is obviously jasmine season and I'm seeing it everywhere, often in such quantities that it completely covers fences.
I was walking the dogs at a rest stop when I noticed that a large tree providing us shade looked an awful lot like the pecan trees in our yard back in Austin. And when I looked closer, sure enough that's just what it was.
In another area I saw what sure looked like kudzu, though I suppose it could have been grapevine since I wasn't close enough to get a good look.
I heard on Missouri Public Radio that the expected heat index reading for the day in St. Louis was 104°.
I passed through the small town of New Canton, that claims to be the only "official" town in Pike County IL. Not sure what the unofficial ones are like because everything I drove through looked like regular towns.
I got stopped at the Hardin drawbridge over the Illinois River, but this wasn't your usual drawbridge. With this one, the whole bridge deck went up and down. I cribbed this photo from the internet, which I mention because I think the photographer may have copyrighted it. I'm using it with his name and hoping that'll be okay because I couldn't find any uncopyrighted ones.
By the river I saw distinct signs of a flood: silt was flung over the lower half of highway signs; a salvage yard near the river had half its dead cars completely covered with silt; several old buildings had collapsed and several silos had buckled. When I looked it up I learned that this past June an upriver levee was breached and serious flooding was happening downriver, so this must have been the result. A whole lot of silt.
The town of Grafton says it's the home to wintering Bald Eagles, from Dec. 1 to Mar. 1.
This photo was taken upriver from St. Louis, which is just not visible on the far right bank. I saw Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets here and multiples of them all along this stretch of the river.
In East St. Louis/Hartford is a Lewis & Clark State Historic Site. Across the Mississippi River from there is where the Missouri River flows in, and it's there that the Voyage of Discovery began. I'll do a separate post about that visitor center display.
I'll be in Missouri in April of next year and am sure I'll take a look at St. Louis. But in the meantime, I couldn't help but notice the well-known Gateway Arch. At 630', it's the world's tallest arch.
At this point I started seeing more Missouri license plates than Illinois. And I had 2 MO drivers at separate times pull out in front of me when I was going 55 mph and chug along at no more than 45, and when I passed them, they speeded up and passed me.
You've probably noticed I comment a lot about people's driving behavior, not odd given that I'm spending much of my time driving. If I worked in an office, I'd talk about people's office behavior. But the fact is, when people get behind the wheel, they often change their personalities and not always for the better.
I passed a chapter of the United Iron Workers 2 miles before I got to Steeleville, so I figured the town was founded on the steel industry. Instead, it was named for the founding Steele family. It claims to be The Biggest Little City in Southern Illinois.
Despite the high temps of the last few days, NPR played several autumn-themed pieces. Vivaldi's "Autumn" in "Four Seasons" was of course one of them. But they also included a lovely piece that was new to me called, Chanson d'Automne or, in English, "Autumn Song." Written by Stephen Reynolds, a Canadian, you can find a YouTube version at this link if you're interested. https://www.youtube.com
The farther south I went the more I saw flat land with only gentle rises - none of this 7% grade stuff. And I'm starting to see dead armadillos on the road now, mixed in with the dead raccoons and possums and deer.
I made a stop in Chester, home of the creator of Popeye, and the town has devoted itself to the famous character. I'll do a separate post on that.
That green possible soybean crop I've seen so much of is starting to show up as a yellow crop now. As you can see, there are whole fields that have turned yellow - though I'm still seeing plenty of green. I suppose it varies depending on when the crop went into the ground.
Have I already mentioned I'm also seeing whole fields of dead cornstalks? I'm assuming their corn has been harvested, because these plants are obviously dying. In fact, a couple of times I've seen farmers doing what appeared to be cutting down the corn plants, leaving just stubble in the fields. Using a John Deere machine, of course.
In the southern part of the state I started seeing a number of references to Egypt. Cairo (no matter how they pronounce it) is an obvious example, but there's also the Egyptian Power Company and the main street in the town of Christopher is called Egyptian Street. I finally found a sign near Cairo that said Egypt was comprised of Illinois's 16 southernmost counties. What I can't fathom is why.
On my way to Carbondale (home of the Carbondale Salukis - such an odd mascot but this is part of Egypt) for groceries, I passed through the town of Murphysboro, which claims the title of BBQ Capital of Illinois. It's the home of 17th Street BBQ, winner of a number of BBQ awards, and I fully intended to stop off and get some on my way back through. I could see that the town was getting ready for the annual Apple Fest parade - the entire main street was lined with folding chairs and vendors - but I assumed I'd be able to take a side road back through town.
Actually, I did take a side road, but I was forced to take the one that had been designated the detour rather than the one that would take me to the BBQ place. The parade was not only in full swing, it looked like it must include every organization and club in the entire county. I saw a row of convertibles with various local royalty (some quite young), including Mrs. Illinois America 2019, waiting to enter the parade. It was simply impossible to get across the main street so I gave it up, but very reluctantly. Good BBQ is always welcome.
I listened to a radio program called the Kim Komando Show, that this time was about how to keep your identity from getting stolen online. It was all pretty interesting. Among other assistance, she mentioned Windows Defender, Malwarebytes and No More Robo (for robo calls). Computer literate folks probably know all about these things, but they were news to me.
I passed Logan Hollow Fish Farm. I haven't connect fish farming with Illinois, which was clearly a mistake.
I thought I saw another large flock of cranes, this time on the ground.
I passed through the town of Horseshoe Lake, Goose Capital of the World. (They go in for hyperbole in Illinois.)
I finished my trek down the Mississippi at Cairo, where the Ohio River empties into the Mississippi. I'll do a separate post on Cairo.
At this point my odometer says I've traveled just over 40,000 miles. Somehow that doesn't seem very far, considering where I've been, but that's what it says.
 |
| pecan tree by a cornfield |
 |
| I know pecans when I see them |
In another area I saw what sure looked like kudzu, though I suppose it could have been grapevine since I wasn't close enough to get a good look.
I heard on Missouri Public Radio that the expected heat index reading for the day in St. Louis was 104°.
I passed through the small town of New Canton, that claims to be the only "official" town in Pike County IL. Not sure what the unofficial ones are like because everything I drove through looked like regular towns.
 |
| taken by John Christeson |
By the river I saw distinct signs of a flood: silt was flung over the lower half of highway signs; a salvage yard near the river had half its dead cars completely covered with silt; several old buildings had collapsed and several silos had buckled. When I looked it up I learned that this past June an upriver levee was breached and serious flooding was happening downriver, so this must have been the result. A whole lot of silt.
The town of Grafton says it's the home to wintering Bald Eagles, from Dec. 1 to Mar. 1.
 |
| looking south down the Mississippi River |
In East St. Louis/Hartford is a Lewis & Clark State Historic Site. Across the Mississippi River from there is where the Missouri River flows in, and it's there that the Voyage of Discovery began. I'll do a separate post about that visitor center display.
 |
| the Gateway Arch |
At this point I started seeing more Missouri license plates than Illinois. And I had 2 MO drivers at separate times pull out in front of me when I was going 55 mph and chug along at no more than 45, and when I passed them, they speeded up and passed me.
You've probably noticed I comment a lot about people's driving behavior, not odd given that I'm spending much of my time driving. If I worked in an office, I'd talk about people's office behavior. But the fact is, when people get behind the wheel, they often change their personalities and not always for the better.
I passed a chapter of the United Iron Workers 2 miles before I got to Steeleville, so I figured the town was founded on the steel industry. Instead, it was named for the founding Steele family. It claims to be The Biggest Little City in Southern Illinois.
Despite the high temps of the last few days, NPR played several autumn-themed pieces. Vivaldi's "Autumn" in "Four Seasons" was of course one of them. But they also included a lovely piece that was new to me called, Chanson d'Automne or, in English, "Autumn Song." Written by Stephen Reynolds, a Canadian, you can find a YouTube version at this link if you're interested. https://www.youtube.com
The farther south I went the more I saw flat land with only gentle rises - none of this 7% grade stuff. And I'm starting to see dead armadillos on the road now, mixed in with the dead raccoons and possums and deer.
I made a stop in Chester, home of the creator of Popeye, and the town has devoted itself to the famous character. I'll do a separate post on that.
Have I already mentioned I'm also seeing whole fields of dead cornstalks? I'm assuming their corn has been harvested, because these plants are obviously dying. In fact, a couple of times I've seen farmers doing what appeared to be cutting down the corn plants, leaving just stubble in the fields. Using a John Deere machine, of course.
In the southern part of the state I started seeing a number of references to Egypt. Cairo (no matter how they pronounce it) is an obvious example, but there's also the Egyptian Power Company and the main street in the town of Christopher is called Egyptian Street. I finally found a sign near Cairo that said Egypt was comprised of Illinois's 16 southernmost counties. What I can't fathom is why.
On my way to Carbondale (home of the Carbondale Salukis - such an odd mascot but this is part of Egypt) for groceries, I passed through the town of Murphysboro, which claims the title of BBQ Capital of Illinois. It's the home of 17th Street BBQ, winner of a number of BBQ awards, and I fully intended to stop off and get some on my way back through. I could see that the town was getting ready for the annual Apple Fest parade - the entire main street was lined with folding chairs and vendors - but I assumed I'd be able to take a side road back through town.
Actually, I did take a side road, but I was forced to take the one that had been designated the detour rather than the one that would take me to the BBQ place. The parade was not only in full swing, it looked like it must include every organization and club in the entire county. I saw a row of convertibles with various local royalty (some quite young), including Mrs. Illinois America 2019, waiting to enter the parade. It was simply impossible to get across the main street so I gave it up, but very reluctantly. Good BBQ is always welcome.
I listened to a radio program called the Kim Komando Show, that this time was about how to keep your identity from getting stolen online. It was all pretty interesting. Among other assistance, she mentioned Windows Defender, Malwarebytes and No More Robo (for robo calls). Computer literate folks probably know all about these things, but they were news to me.
I passed Logan Hollow Fish Farm. I haven't connect fish farming with Illinois, which was clearly a mistake.
I thought I saw another large flock of cranes, this time on the ground.
I passed through the town of Horseshoe Lake, Goose Capital of the World. (They go in for hyperbole in Illinois.)
I finished my trek down the Mississippi at Cairo, where the Ohio River empties into the Mississippi. I'll do a separate post on Cairo.
At this point my odometer says I've traveled just over 40,000 miles. Somehow that doesn't seem very far, considering where I've been, but that's what it says.
No comments:
Post a Comment